1-6

 

6.

Willy and I walked up and down the crowds outside Kensington Palace, smiling, shaking hands.

As if we were running for office. Hundreds and hundreds of hands were thrust continually into ourfaces, the fingers often wet.

From what? I wondered.

Tears, I realized.

I disliked how those hands felt. More, I hated how they made me feel. Guilty. Why were allthese people crying when I wasn’t—and hadn’t?

I wanted to cry, and I’d tried to, because Mummy’s life had been so sad that she’d felt the needto disappear, to invent this massive charade¹. But I couldn’t squeeze out one drop. Maybe I’dlearned too well, absorbed too deeply, the ethos of the family, that crying wasn’t an option—ever.

I remember the mounds² of flowers all around us. I remember feeling unspeakable sorrow andyet being unfailingly polite. I remember old ladies saying: Oh, my, how polite, the poor boy! Iremember muttering thanks, over and over, thank you for coming, thank you for saying that, thankyou for camping out here for several days. I remember consoling several folks who were prostrate,overcome, as if they knew Mummy, but also thinking: You didn’t, though. You act as if you did…but you didn’t know her.

That is…you don’t know her. Present tense.

After offering ourselves up to the crowds, we went inside Kensington Palace. We enteredthrough two big black doors, into Mummy’s apartment, went down a long corridor and into aroom off the left. There stood a large coffin³. Dark brown, English oak. Am I remembering orimagining that it was draped in…a Union Jack⁴?

That flag mesmerized⁵ me. Maybe because of my boyish war games. Maybe because of myprecocious patriotism⁷. Or maybe because I’d been hearing rumblings for days about the flag, theflag, the flag. That was all anyone could talk about. People were up in arms because the flag hadn’tbeen lowered to half-mast over Buckingham Palace. They didn’t care that the Royal Standardnever flew at half-mast, no matter what, that it flew when Granny was in residence, and didn’t flywhen she was away, full stop. They cared only about seeing some official show of mourning, andthey were enraged⁸ by its absence. That is, they were whipped into rage by the British papers,which were trying to deflect⁹ attention from their role in Mummy’s disappearance¹⁰. I recall oneheadline, addressed pointedly¹¹ at Granny: Show Us You Care. How rich, coming from the samefiends who “cared” so much about Mummy that they chased her into a tunnel from which shenever emerged.

By now I’d overheard this “official” version of events: Paps chased Mummy through thestreets of Paris, then into a tunnel, where her Mercedes crashed into a wall or cement pillar, killingher, her friend, and the driver.

Standing¹³ before the flag- draped coffin, I asked myself: Is Mummy a patriot⁶? What doesMummy really think of Britain? Has anyone bothered to ask her?

When will I be able to ask her myself?

I can’t recollect¹⁴ anything the family said in that moment, to each other or to the coffin. I don’trecall a word that passed between me and Willy, though I do remember people around us saying“the boys” look “shell-shocked.” Nobody bothered to whisper, as if we were so shell-shocked thatwe’d gone deaf.

There was some discussion about the next day’s funeral. Per the latest plan, the coffin wouldbe pulled through the streets on a horse-drawn carriage by the King’s Troop while Willy and Ifollowed on foot. It seemed a lot to ask of two young boys. Several adults were aghast. Mummy’sbrother, Uncle Charles, raised hell. You can’t make these boys walk behind their mother’s coffin!

It’s barbaric.

An alternative plan was put forward. Willy would walk alone. He was fifteen, after all. Leavethe younger one out of it. Spare the Spare. This alternative plan was sent up the chain.

Back came the answer.

It must be both princes. To garner¹⁵ sympathy, presumably.

Uncle Charles was furious. But I wasn’t. I didn’t want Willy to undergo an ordeal¹⁶ like thatwithout me. Had the roles been reversed, he’d never have wanted me—indeed, allowed me—to goit alone.

So, come morning, bright and early, off we went, all together. Uncle Charles on my right,Willy to his right, followed by Grandpa. And on my left was Pa. I noted¹⁷ at the start how sereneGrandpa looked, as if this was merely another royal engagement. I could see his eyes, clearly,because he was gazing straight ahead. They all were. But I kept mine down on the road. So didWilly.

I remember feeling numb¹⁹. I remember clenching²⁰ my fists. I remember keeping a fraction ofWilly always in the corner of my vision and drawing loads of strength from that. Most of all Iremember the sounds, the clinking bridles²¹ and clopping hooves of the six sweaty brown horses,the squeaking²² wheels of the gun carriage they were hauling. (A relic²³ from the First World War,someone said, which seemed right, since Mummy, much as she loved peace, often seemed asoldier, whether she was warring against the paps or Pa.) I believe I’ll remember those few soundsfor the rest of my life, because they were such a sharp contrast to the otherwise all-encompassingsilence. There wasn’t one engine, one lorry, one bird. There wasn’t one human voice, which wasimpossible, because two million people lined the roads. The only hint that we were marchingthrough a canyon²⁴ of humanity was the occasional wail²⁵.

After twenty minutes we reached Westminster Abbey. We filed into a long pew. The funeralbegan with a series of readings and eulogies²⁶, and culminated²⁷ with Elton John. He rose slowly,stiffly, as if he was one of the great kings buried for centuries beneath the abbey, suddenly rousedback to life. He walked to the front, seated himself at a grand piano. Is there anyone who doesn’tknow that he sang “Candle in the Wind,” a version he’d reworked for Mummy? I can’t be sure thenotes in my head are from that moment or from clips I’ve seen since. Possibly they’re vestiges²⁸ ofrecurring nightmares. But I do have one pure, indisputable memory of the song climaxing²⁹ and myeyes starting to sting and tears nearly falling.

Nearly.

Towards the end of the service came Uncle Charles, who used his allotted³⁰ time to blasteveryone—family, nation, press—for stalking Mummy to her death. You could feel the abbey, thenation outside, recoil³¹ from the blow. Truth hurts. Then eight Welsh Guards moved forward,hoisted the enormous lead- lined coffin, which was now draped in the Royal Standard, anextraordinary break with protocol³². (They’d also yielded to pressure and lowered the flag to half-mast; not the Royal Standard, of course, but the Union Jack — still, an unprecedentedcompromise.) The Royal Standard was always reserved for members of the Royal Family, which,I’d been told, Mummy wasn’t anymore. Did this mean she was forgiven? By Granny? Apparently³³.

But these were questions I couldn’t quite formulate³⁴, let alone ask an adult, as the coffin was slowlycarried outside and loaded into the back of a black hearse. After a long wait the hearse drove off,rolled steadily³⁵ through London, which surged on all sides with the largest crowd that ageless cityhad ever seen—twice as large as the crowds that celebrated³⁶ the end of the Second World War. Itwent past Buckingham Palace, up Park Lane, towards the outskirts³⁷, over to the Finchley Road,then Hendon Way, then the Brent Cross flyover³⁸, then the North Circular, then the M1 to Junction15a and northwards to Harlestone, before passing through the iron front gate of Uncle Charles’sestate.

Althorp.

Willy and I watched most of that car ride on TV. We were already at Althorp. We’d beenspeeded ahead, though it turned out there was no need to hurry. Not only did the hearse go thelong way round, it was delayed several times by all the people heaping flowers onto it, blockingthe vents¹² and causing the engine to overheat. The driver had to keep pulling over so the bodyguardcould get out and clear the flowers off the windscreen. The bodyguard³⁹ was Graham. Willy and Iliked him a lot. We always called him Crackers⁴⁰, as in Graham Crackers. We thought that washysterical.

When the hearse finally got to Althorp the coffin was removed again and carried across thepond, over a green iron bridge hastily positioned by military engineers, to a little island, and thereit was placed upon a platform. Willy and I walked across the same bridge to the island. It wasreported that Mummy’s hands were folded across her chest and between them was placed a photoof me and Willy, possibly the only two men who ever truly loved her. Certainly the two who lovedher most. For all eternity⁴¹ we’d be smiling at her in the darkness, and maybe it was this image, asthe flag came off and the coffin descended⁴² to the bottom of the hole, that finally broke me. Mybody convulsed and my chin fell and I began to sob⁴³ uncontrollably into my hands.

I felt ashamed of violating the family ethos, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

It’s OK, I reassured⁴⁴ myself, it’s OK. There aren’t any cameras around.

Besides, I wasn’t crying because I believed my mother was in that hole. Or in that coffin. Ipromised myself I’d never believe that, no matter what anyone said.

No, I was crying at the mere¹⁸ idea.

It would just be so unbearably⁴⁵ tragic⁴⁶, I thought, if it was actually true.

 

1 charade   

n.用动作等表演文字意义的字谜游戏

参考例句：

• You must not refine too much upon this charade.你切不可过分推敲这个字谜。
• His poems,despite their dignity and felicity,have an air of charade.他的诗篇虽然庄严巧妙，却有猜迷之嫌。

2 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

3 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 mesmerized   

v.使入迷( mesmerize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country girl stood by the road, mesmerized at the speed of cars racing past. 村姑站在路旁被疾驶而过的一辆辆车迷住了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My 14-year-old daughter was mesmerized by the movie Titanic. 我14岁的女儿完全被电影《泰坦尼克号》迷住了。 来自互联网

6 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

7 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

8 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

9 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

10 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

11 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 recollect   

v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得

参考例句：

• He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
• She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。

15 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

16 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

19 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

20 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句

21 bridles   

约束( bridle的名词复数 )； 限动器； 马笼头； 系带

参考例句：

• The horses were shod with silver and golden bridles. 这些马钉着金银做的鉄掌。

22 squeaking   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 relic   

n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物

参考例句：

• This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
• He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。

24 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

25 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

26 eulogies   

n.颂词，颂文( eulogy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her latest film has brought eulogies from the critics. 她最近的这部电影获得影评界的好评。 来自互联网

27 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

29 climaxing   

vt.& vi.达到顶点（climax的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

30 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

31 recoil   

vi.退却，退缩，畏缩

参考例句：

• Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
• Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

32 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

33 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

34 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

35 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

36 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

37 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

38 flyover   

n.立交桥，天桥

参考例句：

• It took workers more than one year to build this flyover.建造这座立交桥破费工人一年多时间。
• All that came to his bakery should go over a flyover first.所有来他店的人都必须先经过一座立交桥。

39 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

40 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

41 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

42 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

43 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

44 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

45 unbearably   

adv.不能忍受地，无法容忍地；慌

参考例句：

• It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

46 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。